The Easter weekend is just a couple of days away, and it’s the perfect time to get together and celebrate with loved ones. There’s nothing better than a good meal to bring everybody together, and the star of the show is often a juicy leg of roast lamb.
Traditionally these were always cooked in the oven. But now, with more and more people now owning air fryers, many will be reaching for these gadgets to prepare the succulent cut of meat. However, experts have warned that one mistake could ruin not only the taste of your lamb, but your appliance too.
Philips’ in-house air fryer chef and cooking expert, Martin Senders, says that putting bone-in lamb in the air fryer incorrectly can spell disaster. This is because it can make the bone heat too quickly, leading to uneven cooking and potential damage.
He explained: “Cooking bone-in lamb in your air fryer requires extra care. Without it, you could end up with unevenly cooked meat – and possibly even damage your appliance.
“The bone absorbs heat faster than the surrounding meat, which can lead to overcooked or undercooked areas. Even worse, if you overcrowd the basket or use large bone-in cuts that don’t fit properly, the bones could scrape against the sides of the fryer, damaging the basket or affecting the heating elements over time.”
How to cook lamb in the air fryer
According to the experts at BBC Good Food, a leg of lamb weighing around 1.2kg should be taken out of the fridge around 30 minutes before cooking.
They recommend air frying it for 15 minutes at 200C before turning the heat down to 180C and cooking for a further 45 minutes. When you take it out, put it on a warmed plate, cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
And the great thing about air fryers is that you can cook a delicious side to go with your lamb at the same time. The BBC recipe recommends using baby potatoes, cut in half and seasoned with olive oil and garlic, popped in the air fryer for the same amount of time as the lamb.
Once the meat has been taken out, you can then add some parmesan, salt and lemon juice to the spuds and cook for a further six minutes while the lamb is resting, and serve all together.